An assault suspect led officers on a road chase from El Cajon to San Diego Monday, allegedly trying to force a squad car off a freeway along the way before pulling over in front of a downtown police station, where he was bitten by a police dog and arrested.
The chase began shortly before 6 a.m., when patrol personnel investigating a report of an assault in the 200 block of East Main Street in El Cajon saw the suspected assailant, 48-year-old Gabriel Tirso Quijas of Spring Valley, drive by in a Cadillac Escalade, according to police.
When officers tried to pull over Quijas a short distance away, he allegedly refused to yield and fled through the city before getting onto westbound Interstate 8.
During the ensuing pursuit, the suspect allegedly accelerated to high speeds, nearly caused a collision with a cruiser tailing him by suddenly slowing down, and attempted to ram that squad car and force it into a concrete center divider, El Cajon police Lt. Will Guerin said.
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The suspect continued fleeing to the west until he arrived in the East Village, where he pulled over in front of San Diego Police Department headquarters at 1401 Broadway and got out of his vehicle.
After Quijas allegedly refused comply with their directions, officers sent in a police dog to subdue him. He was booked into San Diego Central Jail on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, resisting arrest and evading police with wanton disregard for public safety.
The initial crime that led to the pursuit involved Quijas allegedly threatening a transient and driving a car into the other man's tent while the victim was inside it, the lieutenant said.
